New Ireland office block offers scope for new hotel at €12m

Just over five years on from the €38 million sale of its former Dawson Street headquarters, New Ireland Assurance’s offices on nearby South Frederick Street are being offered to the market.

Number 5-9 South Frederick Street, to the rear of the landmark premises acquired in 2018 by Paddy McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan’s Oakmount and Derek McGrath’s Core Capital, is being offered for sale by agent CBRE at a guide price of €12 million.

While New Ireland’s former Dawson Street headquarters will remain largely in office use, with Goodbody Stockbrokers due to occupy some 60,000sq ft for its new headquarters, the company’s home on South Frederick Street offers prospective purchasers a very different opportunity, according to the selling agents.

A feasibility study undertaken by RKD Architects before the sale suggests the 1960s building offers significant scope for redevelopment as a hotel. The study also points to the building’s potential to be extended and retained for office use. The existing structure consists of five storeys of office space over a basement car park and extends to 3,570sq m (38,427sq ft). The building has a net area of 2,134sq m (22,970sq ft).

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Four hotel layouts have been designed as part of the RKD study with schemes ranging from a room count of 52 bedrooms up to 137 bedrooms, depending on room sizes and amenities.

Were the building to remain in office use, the selling agents say its central location and floor-plate size of less than 5,000sq ft would provide the incoming purchaser the opportunity to lease the scheme’s office space on a floor-by-floor basis or as an own-door headquarters building.

5-9 South Frederick Street is in Dublin’s south city centre. The immediate area is thriving thanks to the presence of numerous leading corporate occupiers including AIB, Davy and Barclays, along with a wide and varied selection of restaurants, cafes and high-end retail on the stretch from Molesworth Street to Grafton Street.

All of Dublin city’s big cultural and sporting venues – Convention Centre Dublin, the 3Arena, the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, the Mansion House, the National Concert Hall, Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium – are readily accessible from the property.

Commenting on the sale of 5-9 South Frederick Street, CBRE says: “This high-profile property provides for a variety of redevelopment options creating future value-add, subject to securing planning permission.”